Buying a home has never been a simple transaction. It’s a journey that demands discipline, patience, and the confidence to navigate a complex financial landscape. The latest National Association of Realtors® (NAR) Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reminds us just how real those challenges can be.

 Eleven percent of all U.S. buyers said saving for a down payment was the single hardest part of the entire process. Yet, despite these hurdles, people continue to achieve homeownership. In fact, the national median down payment grew again last year, but not in the Tri-Cities.

What’s behind that trend? Age is part of the story. The median U.S. buyer age climbed to 56 in 2024. The median age runs slightly younger. It’s 53 in both local metro areas.

The increase in age is notable because older buyers typically have more years of saving behind them and, nationally, they put more down. Nationwide, buyers ages 45–64 made the second-highest down payments: a median 17%, or about $68,800.

 But here in the Tri-Cities, downpayments for the median-age buyer didn’t mirror their national age group. Local buyers kept their down payments low.

Nearly 70% of the recent local home purchases were financed, and the local down payments for the median-aged buyer fell below their U.S. median age group. Here’s what the local down payment data looks like:

• Kingsport–Bristol metro: 9.4% median down payment, or $18,851
• Johnson City metro: 9.4% median down payment, but a much larger dollar amount – $48,063

This difference is driven primarily by price. Higher-value properties in the Johnson City metro naturally translate into larger dollar down payments, even at the same percentage level.

Buying with less than 20% down brings private mortgage insurance (PMI) into the monthly payment picture. For many local households, PMI is a non-negotiable part of affording a home today.

Here’s what PMI looks like across our region according to the Atlanta Federal Bank’s Home Ownership Monitor:

• Greeneville metro: $361 of a $1,790 payment
• Kingsport–Bristol: $387 of a $1,782 payment
• Johnson City: $433 of a $2,104 payment

PMI may not be ideal, but it’s often what makes homeownership possible, even though it adds heft to the monthly mortgage payment. Here’s some additional information from the current profile of local homebuyers that helps add context about local buyers:  

Johnson City Metro

• Median income: $66,710
• Median purchase price: $309,730
• Share of income spent on housing: 44%
• Moved here from another state: 27.8%

Kingsport–Bristol Metro

• Median income: $68,390
• Median purchase price: $254,430
• Share of income spent on housing: 32%
• Moved here from another state: 19.4%

Even as national trends shift toward older buyers with higher down payments, our region continues to attract buyers who finance most of the transaction, and many – especially locals – stretch to make monthly payments manageable. The gap between what buyers earn and what they must spend to compete for listings remains a defining force in both metros.

Homeownership is still attainable in the Tri-Cities, but only because buyers, lenders, and Realtors® are working together to navigate tight inventories, elevated prices, and the practical realities of financing.

As always, a Realtor’s role is to help guide buyers through these decisions with sound advice grounded in real data. Markets evolve, but the fundamentals of helping people achieve homeownership remain the same. And that’s where Realtors® continue to make the difference.